A Hickory Hills man was charged Jan. 22 with soliciting a sexual act after refusing to pay the $30,000 he offered a man to watch him masturbate, police said.

Timothy J. Costello, 29, met the 20-year-old Palatine man on Facebook and offered him $30,000 to come to his apartment in the 8100 block of 87th Street and watch him perform the sexual act, according to police reports.

The Palatine man took a cab to the apartment and told the driver that his friend“Tim James” would pay the $74 fare when they arrived. But Costello refused to pay when the cab arrived, police said.

Costello, police said, is known to have made similar offers in the past but has never made good on them. Police went to his apartment to see if he would pay the cab fare, but he did not answer the door, they said.

They found Costello “lurking behind the building,” the report said. Costello admitted to making the offer, but denied saying he would pay the cab fare, police said. Costello said did he not think the alleged victim would take him up on the offer, according to police.

The Palatine man later admitted that Costello told him to skip out on the cab fare, but he had second thoughts when he arrived at the apartment building, police said.

The alleged victim told police, “Man, I knew it was too good to be true.I would have watched 10 guys masturbate for $30,000.”

The Palatine man telephoned his sister, who agreed to pay the cab fare via credit card. Police drove him to the station where he waited for his mother to pick him up.